


Sledding is a Human Requirement

by Strings (fangirlgeekout)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Gen, Sledding, Team Free Will, Tickling, Ticklish Castiel, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2013-12-30
Packaged: 2019-03-10 07:23:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13497406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlgeekout/pseuds/Strings
Summary: Sam, Dean, & Cas go on a sledding adventure. Cas hates the cold. Friendship and brotherly love abound.





	Sledding is a Human Requirement

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted Dec 2013 on [Tumblr](http://thebest-medicine.tumblr.com/post/71616923846/sledding-is-a-human-requirement). Backdating this because it's oooold and my writing style has changed a lot since then.

“This is meant to be a form of entertainment?”

“Yeah, Cas. I know it’s cold, but there’s no getting around it.”

“Sam, would you stop explaining everything and help me with this damn thing?”

Sam exhaled into his mittens and reached down to tug the back end of the toboggan around. Dean patted the curved wood of the front.

“Alright, who’s first?”

For the range of expression the angel normally portrayed, Castiel looked practically terrified. Sam huffed a laugh. “I’ll go.”

The lanky hunter seated himself in the middle of the long sled and looped the rope in his hands. He ducked into his scarf while Dean planted both hands on his back and started a running shove until the curve of the hill took over. He whooped as the toboggan picked up speed, carving a path through the wet snow.

Dean grinned and glanced over at Cas. The angel was bundled up in a thick scarf and had his hands tucked up under his armpits. They’d tried to talk him out of his trenchcoat without success, but had at least managed to convince him to wear another layer or two underneath.

“Stop looking so miserable. We’re gonna have fun even if it kills you.” Dean tugged his hat further down around his ears.

“These conditions are not very pleasant.”

“Come on, Debbie Downer. You’ve gotta go sledding at least once in your life. It’s a human requirement.”

Cas rubbed at his nose with the back of his hand. “It is no such thing.”

The snow crunched as Sam came trudging back up the hill with the toboggan in tow. His hair was damp and had a few icy chunks clinging to it. “I kind of wiped out at the bottom, but it should be a decent track to start with.”

Dean swiped at the back of his brother’s head to knock the snow off. “Nice job, Sammy.” He turned to the angel. “Your turn, Cas.”

“I’m not going.”

“Aw, don’t be like that. You’re not scared, are ya?”

Cas scowled into his scarf.

“Dean’ll ride with you,” Sam offered brightly.

“He  _will not_ ,” Dean frowned. “That’s girly shit.”

"Would you?” And dammit if Cas didn’t look so hopeful. Dean’s shoulders sagged.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “But you’re sitting in front.  _Don’t_ ,” he warned Sam with a punch in the arm. Sam just grinned.

Castiel hesitantly approached the sled. “Go ahead and sit here,” Sam said, gesturing with his boot. “You can tuck your feet under the front there. Like that, yeah. Now hold the rope here, and just… don’t fall off.”

Dean plopped down behind the angel and glared a  _don’t say a damn word_  look at his brother before wrapping his legs around the outside of Cas’ hips. He made a few aborted gestures with his arms before clasping Castiel’s waist. ”Just hold on tight and you’ll be fine.”

Sam braced himself against Dean’s back. “Ready?” He grunted until he overcame their combined inertia, then two or three loping strides had them sliding over the edge of the hill.

Dean felt Cas’ entire body tense as the sled accelerated. He laughed over the angel’s shoulder. “Hold on!”

They rocketed down the path Sam’s run had carved, reaching a frightening velocity before bottoming out at the base of the slope. When Dean let go of the angel’s waist to use his hands as brakes, Cas flinched back into him as if afraid of losing contact. The toboggan drifted to a stop and Dean jumped up. He offered a hand and pulled a slightly stiff Castiel to his feet.

"See, that wasn’t so bad,” he smiled. “Now you just have to go back up the hill.” He reached down to grab the toboggan rope and took two steps before realizing Cas wasn’t standing where he’d been a second ago. Dean whirled once, then shielded his eyes to look up at the ridge above. Two figures stood at the top, one with a long coat flapping in the light wind, the other doubled over clutching his stomach.

His brother was still laughing by the time Dean reached the top of the hill. He leaned on his thighs for a second to catch his breath and pointed accusingly at the expressionless angel. “ _You_ ,” he groused, “are a bastard.”

Cas opened his mouth to protest the inaccuracy, but didn’t get a sound out before Dean launched at him. He reeled backwards with a shout, legs tangling and tripping. There was a sudden displacement of air as a pair of wings rushed into existence, half a second too late to regain balance, and angel and hunter tumbled into the snow.

“Cold!” Cas gasped, flapping and shoving.

Dean leaned all the more heavily on top of him. ”You think?” he laughed, grabbing a fistful of snow and cramming it under Castiel’s scarf. Cas wheezed and clawed at the frigid lump, digging it out in little chunks and sputtering as icy rivulets melted down his neck.

“Don’t abuse him,” Sam admonished, chuckling.

“Ah, he doesn’t mind - do ya, Cas?” Dean thrust his cold fingers under the angel’s dark feathers.

Cas gasped. “Your hands are freezing!”

“And you’re nice and warm, let me thaw them out.”

“Stop! Get out! No- HA! Nohohohohooo!” Castiel erupted into giggles and pushed frantically at the older hunter.

Sam had an incredulous look on his face. “Are you…? Is he…?”

“Wanna help, Sammy?” Dean grinned up from under his hat. “He’s super ticklish. Worse than you.”

“You’re… tickling an angel of the Lord. What the hell?”

“S’alright, he likes it.”

“I do nohohot! AHAHAHAHAHAAA!”

“Quit denying it.” Dean punctuated with a rough scrabble near the wing’s elbow joint. Cas squealed. “You gonna help or not?”

“Uh…” Sam still looked unsure, but was definitely amused by the sounds Cas was making. He didn’t think he’d ever heard the angel actually laugh before.

“Here, you take the left one. You can sit on the edge there to hold it down, he’ll give you a bloody nose otherwise. Oh shut up, it doesn’t hurt him, he’s fine.”

“Sam! No!” Cas’ eyes were slightly panicked.

Dean rolled his eyes. “So dramatic.”

Sam tentatively laid a mittened hand on the wing, brushing at the stark dusting of white flakes on the black feathers. They shuddered as Cas cackled and arched away from Dean’s ruthless attack at his right. Sam pulled one damp mitten off and stuffed it in the pocket of his coat. He cautiously slipped his fingers under the feathers and scribbled gently at the flesh beneath. Cas’ shoulder jerked away and his laughter spiked. Sam couldn’t stop the grin spreading across his face. He discarded his other mitten and beset the wing with both hands.

“ _Deheheheeeean_! SAAAHAHAHAM! Dohohohon’t-t-t-” A loud snort, followed by a giggly shriek, had both brothers laughing nearly as hard as Cas himself.

It was quite the sight - an angel sprawled on the snow, dark wings and dark hair contrasting with the brilliant glare of the icy crystals, laughing hysterically as human hands pinned him down and tickled him senseless.

“I don’t get it,” Sam commented after a moment. “Why aren’t we both smashed into tree trunks right now?”

“He gets a little disoriented,” Dean answered with a chuckle. “Not in full control of his vessel, and all that.”

“I hahahate you bohohohohoth!”

“ _And_  he becomes a terrible liar and makes empty threats.” Dean reached over and pawed under a layer or two of clothing beneath the trenchcoat and squeezed Cas’ side, eliciting an extra yelp.

“So is it just the vessel that’s ticklish? I mean, he doesn’t respond to pain the same way,” Sam said, working his fingers as far as he could down the wing under Cas’ back. The angel’s cackling peaked. “And the wings don’t really count as… vessel.”

Dean shrugged. “Hell if I know. I don’t think  _he_  even really understands it.”

“Stohohop talking about me-heHEHEHE like I’m nohot hehehehehehere!”

“If you’re still coherent, we’re not doin’ this right.”

“Ah, give him a break, Dean.” The younger hunter stopped and took a second to swipe the tousled feathers back into place. “I think he’s had enough.”

Dean sighed theatrically. “Alright, fine.” He rolled up into a squatting position and pointed right into Castiel’s cold- and laughter-reddened face. “But don’t leave me at the bottom of the hill like that again, or you get Round Two.”

“I won’t,” Cas promised, still giggling. He took both Sam’s and Dean’s extended hands and pulled himself up. His wings shook off the snow and folded in against his back before hiding from the physical world once again.

Sam took the next toboggan run, then Cas and Dean went together again before the angel would do it by himself. Dean tried going headfirst once, but careened off-path before he got even halfway down and rolled the rest of the way to the bottom of the hill. Cas cleaned up a few of his scrapes, then insisted on going with him again on their next turn to prevent another mishap. (He may have cajoled Dean into sitting in front, then he may have spent the whole ride down digging his fingers into the hunter’s ribs. There may have been another mishap.)

It was sunset by the time they decided they were all chilled to the bone, and hot chocolate sounded like a really good idea. Sam hauled the toboggan by its rope, and Dean tossed an arm around each of his companions for the long walk home.


End file.
